Black Flame Continuum
by Tsubomi Rei
Summary: Well, my first one. This is the Black Flame Continuum, set in a parallel universe to the regular, where things will go much differently, and much worse... this will be the counterpart to another fanfic i'll be writing, the White Flame Continuum. More soon
1. Sky Battle

Tsuna stood triumphantly over a kneeled Xanxus. Completed Sky Ring in hand, his dying will flame had slowly faded away as he stared at Xanxus. Tsuna's family stood behind him as well as the guests of both sides. They were about to cheer, but there was something wrong. Though Xanxus kneeled defeated, the Cervello judges did not declare Tsuna the winner.

"Hey? What's going on here?" Snarled Ken, the Beast Man from the Kokuyo gang. Always loud and obnoxious, and always irritable.

The Storm Guardian grew restless as he always did and spat at the Judges, "Come on! The 10th won fair and square! Hurry up and declare him the winner!"

The various cries were heard all saying the same thing, but the more Experienced members of the audience, namely the Arcobaleno's, Dr. Shamal and Squalo, knew the reason Victory was not declared. A flash of purple mist burst from Xanxus and a stream of his signature gunfire was heard as he hurtled towards Tsuna, who managed to catch a hold of him just in time to absorb some of his flame and re-renter Hyper Dying Will Mode. The 'completed' Sky Ring faded away in his hand to a half completed one.

"You had Viper hide your presence moments before defeat while you stalled for time? Cowardly, Xanxus." Tsuna responded as he delivered a kick sending Xanxus hurtling towards the air.

Regaining his balance by firing a shot of fire into the air causing momentum as he flew back towards Tsuna, "SHUT UP TRASH! I don't want to hear you preaching to me when the battle isn't over!" Xanxus snarled and laughed hysterically as he declared that he knew Tsuna's weakness. From a nearby building, Levi, Belphegor and the others of the Varia were watching on, receiving Medical treatment from the Medical Squad. They decided to stay out and leave the rest to their boss as he gives them a good show.

"Your weakness… is your FAMILY!!!!""This is bad." Reborn declared, nodding towards Colonello.

Tsuna became alert and rushed to match Xanxus' speed, but his utter lack of Flame forced him to slow down as a bullet was shot into the crowd. Spiraling, the bullet picked up momentum and covered itself in flames as it pierced through Gokudera's chest. The crowd went silent for several seconds as Tsuna appeared before Xanxus could fire another bullet, now bursting with flames similar to that of Xanxus', flames filled with Hatred and Rage. .

Yamamoto screamed at the top of his lungs, "G-GOKUDERA?!" Everyone flocked to his side, save for Hibari, who instead stared at the ongoing battle, calculating who was stronger. Pulling him up, Gokudera coughed up a bit of blood as he uttered, "B…Boss…." They turned to the worried looking Dr. Shamal.

"I… only treat wome… I…" He turned away and motioned for the others to lay him down as sparks flew from above. The battle was truly in its final stage now, as both had drawn upon their last reserves of strength as the battle each other in the air. They flew at fast speeds into close range as the they declared their now mutual hatred.

"XANXUS!!!!!!!!!!!"

"SAWADA!!!!!!!!!!"

Before his punch had connected , Tsuna had grabbed his fist and poured his heart into one final blow, as he sent a surge of his own fire into Xanxus' body, while performing the Zero Point Breakthrough, over powering Xanxus completely. He only meant to freeze his hands, but Tsuna's anger blinded him as Xanxus' entire body became encased in the flame sealing ice, and he plummeted to the ground, defeated as the remnants of his flame, faded to smoke,


	2. Hospital Bed

The battle was over and the victor decided. Both sides were entirely out of flame and to the point of exhaustion, but one was frozen and one was not. Sawada Tsunayoshi had earned the rights to succeed the family and become its 10th boss. He was out of breath as he staggered over to his wounded family member, who had long since passed out.

"I've managed to take care of him for the most part…" Dr. Shamal stated as the crowd gathered around Gokudera. The Varia had gone at this point and took their frozen boss with them, and the Cervello seemed to have disappeared as well.

"How… how is he…?" Tsuna asked as his bloodied body kneeled down near the unconscious Storm Guardian. He was somewhat calmed when told that he would be alright. "That…s…. great…" Tsuna smiled softly as Yamamoto and Ryohei rushed to his side.

"H-hey Tsuna?"

"Oi! Should you be talking Sawada?!"

Reborn slowly walked to his student's side and looked up at him, seeing the battle scars of his newest battle. He had let anger over come him and as a result, he had become worn out. "You've done well, Tsuna." He said grimly.

"R…Reborn…." Tsuna managed to crawl a bit closer to the baby and looked down at him, "I… Let him…-" He was cut off as the exhaustion overwhelmed his body and he passed out, falling unto the ground of their school, eyes slowly closing and reaching a calm state, finally being able to rest after this long battle.

Tsuna slowly awakened in a dimly lit yellow room, sitting in a comfortable bed all alone. He quickly realized that he was in Namimori hospital, and that Gokudera had been shot. He felt guilty, as if he couldn't protect his family. No. He couldn't protect his friends. When he realized this, Tsuna felt terrible. A pair of small footsteps echoed into the quiet hospital hallway just outside of Tsuna's room. The door swung open but no one was there, apparently. But if you looked down, you would see Reborn.

"You're awake. That's good.. We were worried about you, Tsuna." Reborn stated with his usual cat like smile on his face, which quickly turned into a frown when Tsuna spoke up and told him, "I couldn't do it… I got swept up in this mafia situation and took it lightly… its real…" The two looked at each other, Tutor and Student, each understanding each other to a degree.

"I can't protect him, I didn't want to be a Mafia Boss… but I really don't have a choice do I? They'll go after my friends as long as I have the blood of Vongola in my blood… WON'T THEY?!" He gritted his teeth and tried to control himself as he heavily breathed. The quietness of the hospital echoed Tsuna's sadness and anger, sympathizing with him. The ambient lights fit to mood to a t and Reborn stood quietly.

"I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS!!" He shouted as he begun to cry softly. Reborn simply looked away, "Tsuna…." He whispered. "You did as much as you could. There will always be casualties that you can't avoid. Just try to move along and get over them, Gokudera will be fine."

"You know me Reborn. You think I'll accept words like those?"

"…Tsuna."

Tsuna tightened his grip on his blanket and mustered the power to sit up completely and look straight down at him. Tsuna's eyes were dark… Darker than the ever were. He wasn't his usual pathetic self, and he wouldn't be ever again. "Reborn…" He said into the quiet room. The tension rose as the last words were said.

"Teach me how to properly become a Mafia Boss."


	3. Stern Eyes

Ryohei stepped into his house with a sad look on his face. Tsuna had been in the hospital for three days, and Octo-head was still in bad condition. Compared to the others, he felt weak and helpless. He frowned and went into the kitchen, taking a bowl of Ramen from the fridge and putting it into the microwave set for three minutes.

"…Damn it…" He took it out on the 30 second mark, as that's all the patience he had, and quickly began to slurp it down with his chopsticks. Kyoko came in from the other room and noticed how sad her brother looked. "Onii-chan..?"

Looking back, Ryohei frowned and returned to eating his Ramen silently. He really did not want his little sister to see him like this, nor really anyone. But his little sister cared too much and went on to ask him, "Onii-chan? What's wrong… is it about Tsuna-kun? How is he…?"

Ryohei finished his ramen and washed the chopsticks he had used, throwing away the trash. "He's feeling much better… he'll be out in a few days, but why haven't you went to see him?"

Kyoko was silent, not sure how to answer that exactly herself. She had a feeling in her heart that told her she shouldn't see him… that it would only hurt her. "Onii-chan, being sad isn't something you should be doing… Hana and I are going out to buy some cakes… do you want to join us? It might make you feel a little bit better."

"..Some other time." He said as he returned to his thoughts.

A cigarette was lit in a hospital room as Gokudera sat up in his bed. He was shirtless save for the many bandaged covering the right side of his chest, as thankfully the bullet had narrowly missed his heart. He was advised not to smoke, but that only made him smoke more to make up for three lost days. He was thankful that they had won the Sky Battle, but was angry at himself for making the 10th worry about him like this.

Tsuna opened the door to his room and stepped inside and looked at Gokudera. He scanned him quickly and asked, "How are your wounds?"

"Boss..! I'm fine… I'm sorry I was caught off guard so easily, if it-"

"It's my fault Gokudera. I don't want you feeling sorry for yourself." Tsuna responded.

'…What's with the Boss…? He's acting much different… more serious…" Gokudera looked into his eyes and say the stern expression in them, wondering why he felt this way, but did not think it was his place to ask, and instead, opted to change the conversation.

"How are you doing boss? I heard Xanxus got in a few blows, damn bastard…" With that, he took a long drag and exhaled from his cigarette, the long trail of smoke foaming out of his mouth.

"I'm being discharged from the hospital tomorrow, don't worry about me…" He began to leave the room and halfway closed the door behind him, saying, "…I'm sorry for failing you as a boss. It won't happen again." Gokudera sat silently as the ash fell from his cigarette down unto the blanket of the hospital bed, as Tsuna left the room.

Down the hallway, a visitor was staring at Tsuna with a small grin on his face. Tsuna simply walked past him, without saying a word, the footsteps echoing in the abnormally quiet hospital. "You've changed. You're more fun this way." Hibari told him.

Tsuna stopped, and said without looking back and instead, focusing on the door at the end of the hall. "I don't intend to entertain you, Hibari." And with that, continued on his way as the lone Guardian simply smiled contently to himself.


	4. I Can Protect You

The school bell had rung, signaling class had begun as the various Namimori students struggled to get to class on time, for fear of being caught by the Disciplinary Committee Head. As usual, he prowled the hallways looking for 'herbivores' and 'crowders' to properly bite to death and teach a lesson. Hibari looked around at the Mist Illusions left over from the Sky Battle surrounding the school. Many places were damaged, so the Vongola's Spell casting unit were ordered to cast an illusion over the damage while the workers rebuilt the damaged school, and being around this much Mist Flame bothered him, it stirred something up in him that could not be currently settled.

Elsewhere, Tsuna had entered his homeroom, now discharged from the hospital. He was several moments late, but the teacher motioned for him to sit down. Now in his seat, Kyoko looked towards him in a worried manner. Noticing this, Tsuna looked away from her and pretended not to see her. The boring teacher prattled on about this and that as Kyoko grew more worried. Yamamoto noticed this too, but he tried to put it aside as he listened to the lecture, needing to improve his grades again.

Several hours later, the Lunch bell had rang and with it, Tsuna stood up and headed out of the classroom.

"T…Tsuna…Kun…." Kyoko said as she came behind him and grabbed a hold of his shirt. "Can I talk to you alone… on the roof…?"

Tsuna looked behind him and saw her worried eyes, and accepted. He needed to talk to her anyway, after all. "Sure."

The two were now alone on the roof, as Tsuna gazed above them towards the clear sky with only a few clouds in it, sun shining brightly. It was silent and awkward, at least for the one who didn't know what to say. "Tsuna.. Are you alright? Did something happen to you lately?"

"….Do you remember the first day I talked to you, and what I said?" He told her, still focusing on the sky and seeing a bird fly freely in between two clouds. In fact, Kyoko did remember. It was an embarrassing thing to remember, and she thought Tsuna was merely joking.

"You mean-"

"I confessed to you, and never got an answer. And we became friends like this, but you never gave me an answer. Almost as if you ignored it, or didn't even acknowledge it."

"…Tsuna…?"

He turned towards her and showed her how serious he was. Staring into his eyes, Kyoko could not see Tsuna. His empty eyes scared her as she took a step back and began to tear up.

"T..that's not… But Tsuna-kun I really do l…l…"

"You what? It doesn't matter what you were going to say, because I want you to know, things have changed. There are things about me you don't know. I'm the future boss of a Mafia family in Italy." The words coming out of his mouth were ridiculous, but his eyes did not lie to her. "I'm giving you a choice. That day I meant it, I do love you, and if you join with me as my Fiance, I can protect you.. but if not, its better you don't know me."

Kyoko started crying deeply and the boy standing in front of her began fading away, her vision being muddled and what she could see of him walked further and further away. She took a step forward and smacked Tsuna hard across the face, "N...NO!! TSUNA YOU JERK!!!" She screamed loudly as she struggled to breath. Tsuna stared at her for a moment and tried not to look upset, but eyes still full of sorrow, "I'm sorry you feel that way." With that, he walked back to the stairway back into the school.

Her tears gushed out of her eyes as her knees gave out, holding herself against the ground. Tears fell and splashed against the dirt of the dirty school roof. She whimpered and cried out loudly, unable to control herself. "J-JERK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed. Hearing this, Tsuna wiped a single tear from his eye and continued walking down the hallway of the school, amongst a crowd of blank faces.


	5. THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER

Everyone who actually reads this, go back and read the last two chapters.. Sorry, I only recently learned how to use this site and my rough-drafts ended up as the chapters instead _


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